Glen Abernethy

I really want to say yes, but it really depends on the nature of the condition on which the person is presenting. If it is a condition where they need to see a GP, but they don't need to see a GP today or tomorrow or even next week, it could be rescheduled for their own community, for when the GP is coming in. If the individual is presenting with a more serious condition that needs immediate attention, it could be that they are referred to a specialist or a particular type of practitioner in Yellowknife. If that particular type of practitioner exists in Hay River, conceivably they could be...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As we finalize all the details needed to move forward incorporating all the different components of the health system into one authority as part of health transformation, residents will be able to go anywhere in the Northwest Territories that they choose to go for health services. So, if we have residents in Fort Resolution who wish to see a doctor in Hay River, there's nothing stopping them from doing that.

We do encourage people to go to their local provider first. For example, somebody in Fort Resolution, if they're looking for health services, should obviously go to...

Mr. Speaker, when spending public funds, it's important that we make sure that we're spending funds effectively, getting bang for buck, that we're getting maximum benefit for every penny that we spend. We need to look at how we're spending the dollars today. We need to make sure that we're spending them appropriately. If possible, we need to reprofile our funds within the existing home care services to make sure that we are getting those benefits.

I can't say when we would be asking for additional funds because I don't know what degree or amount of funds are needed at this point. The normal...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, homecare services that are provided to individuals are based on clinical need or direction from a physician on the types of services that an individual will require. Conceivably, those can change over time. Without knowing the details of the individual case, I certainly can't answer why one individual might have a reduction in their services.

I would encourage the individual who has had the reduction to talk to their practitioner to see what can be done and whether or not the homecare that's provided is meeting the clinical needs of the patient. Thank you...

Mr. Speaker, one of the roles of the committees of Cabinet is to help to break down barriers between different departments and get departments working together on cross-purposes. This is certainly an area that I think would fit nicely within the Safety and Wellness Committee of Cabinet, and, as I said, I've referred it to that committee for discussion to see what we're currently doing, what we can do within existing finances, existing resources, and what partnerships we need to work on in order to get that information out.

Mr. Speaker, yes, I just need to confirm whether there's one in every health centre across the Northwest Territories; I can't remember off the top of my head if that is the case. I'll also work with the authority to make sure that appropriate training is available.

We do have challenges. We do have a significant amount of turnover, and sometimes we have individuals who are only in for a couple of days, but I will work with the authority to make sure that there's reasonable training to ensure that most of our nurses can be trained in a timely and reasonable way.

We hope to go out for an open competition on that developmental position shortly. I will certainly keep the Member informed once we have a candidate; I'll also let him know who the candidate is, and hopefully we'll be able to find a solid person who in a couple of years can take over that CEO role in the Sahtu. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. With the opening of that new facility, and we plan to be moved in there and fully operational towards the end of the next calendar year, we do have to fully staff a long-term care unit. There is no long-term care unit in the Sahtu at this point so it's all new positions.

We're just in the process of quantifying how many positions that will be and they'll obviously include some kitchen staff, some support workers for the residents in the building, as well as some other janitorial positions, as well as some support positions like RNs. I don't have the exact numbers at this...

Mr. Speaker, one of our key partners in aging in place within the Government of the Northwest Territories is the NWT Housing Corporation who has a number of programs for seniors so that they can make modifications to their homes as they age to help them stay in their homes for as long as possible. There is a recognition that even if we provide greater levels of home care and the housing corp. does provide some programs to help modify homes, unfortunately, some individuals will have to go to different living situations like independent living units.

The Housing Corporation is building five...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I've already mentioned several times in the House over the last couple of weeks that we're currently working on the Continuing Care Services Action Plan for the Northwest Territories which includes review of our home care services provided to date and what level of services we need to provide to meet the needs of our residents, you know, addressing the fact that we do have an aging population in addition to demands on home care. It's also looking at our long-term care demands and how we're going to address those as well as our palliative care demands and...